(Image credit: Paul Krot)

Southern Pacific SD7R #1533 is owned by Dieselmotive Company, Inc. (BUGX) president, Matt Monson, and it is in Chemurgic and ABANDONED! But the question is... Why?

For those who wonder what this unit was, here's some information based on limited research:

Southern Pacific 1533 was manufactured in September 1953 by General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD), originally as a model SD7, and originally numbered by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) as 5321, classified by SP as a class DF-118, then in 1965, it was renumbered to 2728 by SP under their 1965 renumbering scheme, and was reclassified as a class ES615-4, in 1973, the unit was renumbered to 1428 by SP to make way for the new MP15 switchers. The SD7 would be upgraded by SP at their own Sacramento shops (a.k.a. the Sacramento Locomotive Works) into an SD7R on April 29, 1980, and renumbered to 1533, and reclassified as a class ES615R-1. It would be retired in 1991, and sent to the Yolo Shortline Railroad (YSLR) in 1993. 1533 was towed by YSLR GP9R 131 (ex-SP GP9R 3803) to Woodland for storage on June 12, 1993. But on July 4, 1995, the SD7R pulled an excursion train on YSLR. And then pulled another excursion train, this time, it was the WMRR Club Special, which happened on March 14, 1998. After that, Matt Monson of BUGX would buy the unit and throw it into storage at Chemurgic, California.

Why should SP 1533 run again? - It was an excursion star that is underrated, it pulled two excursions, one in 1995, just one year before the fall of the Southern Pacific, and one in 1998, two years after the fall of the Southern Pacific.

Why does this petition exist? Has BUGX done something wrong? - This petition is a call to action for BUGX, since BUGX has somewhat of a... Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)... After they purchase a locomotive from another railroad, they have a really lazy/irritating habit of throwing units into storage at random locations, and let them rust away until they are a subject to be scrapped, this is evident with the Eureka units (SP 2872, NCRR 3779, NCRR 3857 and NCRR 3190), those four GP9E/GP9R locomotives were stored since 1998, and they rusted away until their dispositions in September 2024, with one (3190) being moved out of Eureka, while the other three (SP 2872, NCRR 3779 and NCRR 3857) were scrapped on site. And we do not want to see this happen to the excursion star SP SD7R 1533.

What should BUGX do? - They should restore it to operating condition and/or, at the bare minimum, find a museum or scenic railroad to preserve the SD7R, rather than being lazy and leaving it to rust away until it becomes a subject to be scrapped.

Why should BUGX do this? - Because if no one says anything about this fixation they have, then this type of behaviour can cycle to the point it gets COMPLETELY NORMALIZED for ALL COMPANIES. The more people pretend otherwise, the more normalized this behaviour becomes.

So what are you waiting for? Come on BUGX, your name is "Dieselmotive Company, Inc." for a reason, not "Diesel-Deadline, Ltd.", take care of your assets PROPERLY. AND LET'S GET AN EXCURSION STAR BACK UP AND RUNNING NOW!